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Service work is often differentiated from manufacturing by the interactive labor workers perform as they come into direct contact with customers. Service organizations are…
Abstract
Service work is often differentiated from manufacturing by the interactive labor workers perform as they come into direct contact with customers. Service organizations are particularly interested in regulating these interactions because they are a key opportunity for developing quality customer service, customer retention, and ultimately generation of sales revenue. An important stream of sociological literature focuses on managerial attempts to exert control over interactions through various techniques including routinization, standardization, and surveillance. Scripting is a common method of directing workers’ behavior, yet studies show that workers are extremely reluctant to administer scripts, judging them to be inappropriate to particular interactions or because they undermine their own sense of self. This paper examines a panoptic method of regulating service workers, embodied in undercover corporate agents who patrol employee’s adherence to scripts. How do workers required to recite scripts for customers respond to undercover control? What does it reveal about the nature of interactive labor? In-depth interviews with interactive workers in a range of retail contexts reveal that they mobilize their own interactional competence to challenge the effects of the panoptic, as they utilize strategies to identify and adapt to these “mystery shoppers,” all the while maintaining their cover. The paper shows the limits on control of interactive workers, as they maintain their own socialized sense of civility and preserve a limited realm of autonomy in their work.
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Katarina Giritli Nygren, Karin Axelsson and Ulf Melin
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the consequences of citizens' increased use of public e‐services for agency employees' work situation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the consequences of citizens' increased use of public e‐services for agency employees' work situation.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to accomplish the purpose of the paper the authors focus on the way in which the increased use of public e‐services also implies internal process and routine changes in public administration. The authors analyze work conditions for case officers at a government agency in Sweden by applying occupational ideal types to identify the specific work conditions in the studied case. The case study is based on qualitative data collected with a back office perspective.
Findings
The findings indicate a new hybrid organization where the increased use of e‐services challenges earlier demands for competence. The transformation of e‐government has implications for job codification, rule observation, job specification, and interaction with the general public.
Originality/value
The paper extends the knowledge on how the increased use of public e‐services affects back‐office work conditions, with an increased high level of complexity in work content, but with low level of work autonomy. It argues that studying back‐office work conditions is an important management issue in public administration research as well as practice.
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Thomas N. Garavan, John P. Wilson, Christine Cross, Ronan Carbery, Inga Sieben, Andries de Grip, Christer Strandberg, Claire Gubbins, Valerie Shanahan, Carole Hogan, Martin McCracken and Norma Heaton
Utilising data from 18 in‐depth case studies, this study seeks to explore training, development and human resource development (HRD) practices in European call centres. It aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Utilising data from 18 in‐depth case studies, this study seeks to explore training, development and human resource development (HRD) practices in European call centres. It aims to argue that the complexity and diversity of training, development and HRD practices is best understood by studying the multilayered contexts within which call centres operate. Call centres operate as open systems and training, development and HRD practices are influenced by environmental, strategic, organisational and temporal conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilised a range of research methods, including in‐depth interviews with multiple stakeholders, documentary analysis and observation. The study was conducted over a two‐year period.
Findings
The results indicate that normative models of HRD are not particularly valuable and that training, development and HRD in call centres is emergent and highly complex.
Originality/value
This study represents one of the first studies to investigate training and development and HRD practices and systems in European call centres.
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Dorina Chicu, Mireia Valverde, Gerard Ryan and Rosemary Batt
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the explanatory power of the service-profit chain (SPC) model in a context that differs from its original conception. The authors do so…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the explanatory power of the service-profit chain (SPC) model in a context that differs from its original conception. The authors do so by considering whether the main relationships it proposes apply in the context of call centre services, characterised by remote services and cost cutting business models.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were gathered from a survey of call centre management with a sample of 937 call centres from 14 countries. The analysis was carried out using structural equation modelling.
Findings
Findings reveal that the SPC model behaves somewhat differently in call centres. Although there is general support for most of the links in the model, the results indicate that customer satisfaction in the call centre industry is a separate outcome, rather than a precursor to company performance.
Research limitations/implications
As is common in most research of this type, the present study is based on cross-sectional data.
Practical implications
Managers would be well advised to keep in mind that even minimum investments in human capital can make a difference in customer satisfaction and company results.
Originality/value
This is the first study to examine the main links in the SPC in non-traditional, non-face-to-face services. It demonstrates that the basic logic of the model is upheld, thus providing evidence that the boundaries of the SPC model may be further pushed in line with the peculiarities of the evolving service economy. Also, the authors make a methodological contribution by proposing a series of organisational level proxies for measuring elements of the chain that are typically assessed using individual level data that is expensive to gather.
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María Tatiana Gorjup, Mireia Valverde and Gerard Ryan
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the actual variability of job quality in Spanish call centers (CCs) and to examine the factors that determine the existence of better…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the actual variability of job quality in Spanish call centers (CCs) and to examine the factors that determine the existence of better quality jobs in this sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are collected via survey. The analysis takes place in two stages: First, a standardised index of job quality is generated; second, an ordinary least squares regression analysis is used to evaluate the extent to which the independent variables identified in the literature affect the degree of job quality in CCs.
Findings
There is considerable variability in the quality of jobs in Spanish CCs. This means that the sector cannot be stereotyped as providing either dead‐end or highly professionalized jobs.
Practical implications
Indeed, this variability depends on the type of management model in use and the participation of managers in professional associations/networks. No relationships are found between the strategy followed by the CC and the quality of jobs provided.
Originality/value
One of the main contributions of this paper is the index of job quality it proposes. For management and policy makers, the paper moves the discussion on the sector beyond the importance of CCs as a source of job creation, and considers the type of jobs that are being provided and under which conditions.
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The issue of cybersecurity has been cast as the focal point of a fight between two conflicting governance models: the nation-state model of national security and the global…
Abstract
Purpose
The issue of cybersecurity has been cast as the focal point of a fight between two conflicting governance models: the nation-state model of national security and the global governance model of multi-stakeholder collaboration, as seen in forums like IGF, IETF, ICANN, etc. There is a strange disconnect, however, between this supposed fight and the actual control over cybersecurity “on the ground”. This paper aims to reconnect discourse and control via a property rights approach, where control is located first and foremost in ownership.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper first conceptualizes current governance mechanisms through ownership and property rights. These concepts locate control over internet resources. They also help us understand ongoing shifts in control. Such shifts in governance are actually happening, security governance is being patched left and right, but these arrangements bear little resemblance to either the national security model of states or the global model of multi-stakeholder collaboration. With the conceptualization in hand, the paper then presents case studies of governance that have emerged around specific security externalities.
Findings
While not all mechanisms are equally effective, in each of the studied areas, the author found evidence of private actors partially internalizing the externalities, mostly on a voluntary basis and through network governance mechanisms. No one thinks that this is enough, but it is a starting point. Future research is needed to identify how these mechanisms can be extended or supplemented to further improve the governance of cybersecurity.
Originality/value
This paper bridges together the disconnected research communities on governance and (technical) cybersecurity.
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There appear to be many paradoxes within the management of the growing call centre sector. The purpose of this paper is to consider one of these paradoxes, the extensive…
Abstract
Purpose
There appear to be many paradoxes within the management of the growing call centre sector. The purpose of this paper is to consider one of these paradoxes, the extensive recruitment and training regimes in workplaces that are faced with very high levels of turnover.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is of a single worksite, a call centre of a public utilities company. The research method was non‐participant observation over a seven‐month period coupled with ten interviews with key personnel.
Findings
It was found that the organisation was able to offset the costs of training and recruitment through internal transfers within the larger organisation.
Research limitations/implications
It is a single site study, hence, while of substantial depth the findings are not generalisable. More broad based research is required in the area.
Practical implications
A useful source of information for practitioners in call centres, as well as researchers in the area of recruitment, training and call centres.
Originality/value
This paper provides a valuable insight into an area of call centres that has not been adequately investigated; that of recruitment and training employees for emotional labour.
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This paper aims to report on a study that investigated employees' views on the organizational factors that affect their ability to deliver service quality to customers. The study…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report on a study that investigated employees' views on the organizational factors that affect their ability to deliver service quality to customers. The study is important because call centers represent unique work environments and they have not been used in the development of service quality theory.
Design/methodology/approach
Ten focus groups of frontline employees who work in a telecommunications call center in Australia were conducted. Data were subjected to content analysis.
Findings
Nine major themes were identified. Some of these themes are evident in theory arising from service quality gaps, service climate, and service profit chain studies. Other themes include whether managers emphasize sales or efficiency, rather than service quality; approaches to performance monitoring and feedback, role and productivity demands, quality assurance regimes, and employees' experiences of service encounter stress.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that various factors from prior work need to be integrated and extended to enhance service quality in call centers. However, data were collected from only one call center.
Practical implications
The present study suggests that to deliver high levels of service quality, call center managers need to rethink their approaches to productivity and performance management, and hiring and supporting the “right” service staff.
Originality/value
This paper re‐examines service quality in the specific context of call centers. It provides an organizational focus and complements recent work that has tested the role of employee attitudes in service quality studies. The paper concludes with a model for testing.